On October 20, the People’s Court of Ninh Binh province convicted Facebooker Tran Quoc Khanh of “conducting anti-state propaganda” under Article 117 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to six and half years in prison and two years of probation for his Facebook posting regarding the country’s issues. Mr. Khanh was likely forced to give up legal assistance and he had no lawyers during the trial. Unlike other political trials, his family was allowed to attend the trial and they reported that he did not confess guilty. Mr. Khanh was arrested in April prior to the parliament’s election shortly after he declared to run for a seat in the country’s highest legislative body but is considered as a rubber-stamp by international political observers.